Clifton Gorge

The
Clifton Gorge Nature Preserve is located in south western
Ohio near the town of Clifton. Here the Little Miami
river races through a 40 foot deep rocky limestone gorge. The 269 acre preserve
is adjacent to
John Bryan State Park.
There is a pair of trails that follow the rim of the
gorge, and a trail through the gorge.

Just east of the preserve is the Clifton Mill. Here
you can find a pretty, but man made waterfall, next
to an historical mill. Upstream of the gorge part of the
river has been diverted into a man made channel which
spills into gorge at the mill. This once powered the mill.
The old waterwheel is still there, and a scenic wooden
covered bridge. There are a couple of interesting very
old buildings in the area also.

The Narrows Trail begins just west of the Mill
and follows the rim of the gorge. The gorge is
very narrow here, as the name implies, and the tree
cover makes it hard to see much in many places.
The river tumbles over the Falls of the Little Miami
which is just a hard to see rapids.

View from the Covered Bridge

A couple streams fall into the north end of the gorge
creating small waterfalls.
Unfortunately the rim trail is on the north end and
it is impossible to really see them. The southern
side of the gorge is a scientific perserve that
requires an access permit.

The gorge trail passes by a number of rapids and
Amphitheatre Falls. Here a small stream plummets
25 feet or so into the gorge.

Amphitheatre Falls

Nearby Falls

The Little Miami River gorge is responsible for some other small
falls, such as Charleston Falls,
and the falls in Glen Helen Nature Preserve located
just a couple miles to the east.
The Hocking Hill area is
about 2 hours to the east.
Greenville Falls is roughly 60 miles to the west.

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Last Modified:
Saturday, 19-Sep-2009 15:26:21 MDT.